Hyundai buys 80% of robot firm Boston Dynamics from SoftBank

Hyundai Motor decided to get a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in a package that values the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion.

Hyundai, along with some associated companies and chairman Euisun Chung, can acquire an 80 % interest in the US robotics company from SoftBank Group, leaving japan firm with a 20 % share, the firms said in a statement Fri.

South Korean conglomerate Hyundai has been beefing up its research on robotics since it expands even more into electric and autonomous vehicles. Carmaker Hyundai plans to invest over $55bn within the next five years in these areas to be one of the world’s top rated auto manufacturers. The broader empire can be exploring practical uses for industrial robots.

Other Hyundai entities that will participate include car-parts maker Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis, which gives international and domestic logistics services.

A sale of Boston Dynamics would mark another twist in the trajectory of a company that spun out of your Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the first 1990s and operated independently until Google got it in 2013. It was sold again in 2017, that time to SoftBank.

Sometimes, Boston Dynamics has functioned similar to a research organisation when compared to a business, churning out machines that are technologically advanced but unprofitable. Which includes Spot, a dog-like robot. Videos of its creations regularly rack up millions of views on YouTube; however, the company has explained it isn’t currently making a profit.

Within SoftBank, Boston Dynamics formed part of a disparate assortment of robotics ventures in the technology firm’s portfolio, including developers of robots for warehouses, restaurants, and different industrial applications.

Its staff tripled to 300 people and it moved into new headquarters in a refurbished past postal building in Massachusetts at a cost of $20 million, a person acquainted with the problem said earlier this season.

Late this past year, SoftBank made a new push to steer the robot maker towards profitability, accelerating an effort that had started under Google.

Hyundai in comparison makes highly practical industrial robots designed for factory make use of. The group possesses been producing robotics such as for example exoskeleton suits that help ease fatigue preventing injury for factory workers. It’s also focusing on robots with artificial intelligence that can offer assistance at hotels and in other service sectors.

Mr Chung, who became the group’s chairman in October, has been transforming the conglomerate to introduce more EV line-ups and plans to enter the aerial vehicle marketplace in 2028.

The group is building an innovation centre in Singapore where Hyundai will work on developing artificial intelligence, big data and additional technologies to improve its manufacturing processes, fine tuning the “brains” behind the smarter and more environmentally friendly cars of tomorrow.